Syracuse, N.Y. -- Now, it could come to pass that Dwyane Wade’s words prove prophetic and that “6-3-1” (LeBron James, Wade and Chris Bosh) will become the greatest three-man grouping basketball has ever seen.

All of them, after all, are pretty good and each is in his prime. So, assuming James and Wade and Bosh can get along over time -- and that’s an assumption that isn’t without some risk -- we may, in fact, be on the verge of watching the NBA’s most wondrous trio. Ever.

But not so fast. Not so soon. We’ve been given majestic triumvirates before -- guys who did play together and excel together and win together. And that suggests in the here and now that the position that we (including Wade) probably need to assume is that “6-3-1” has to eat a few beans before anybody yaps too much more.

A few samples (in chronological order):

-- Bill Russell, John Havlicek and Sam Jones.

-- Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor.

-- Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Dave DeBusschere.

-- Julius Erving, Moses Malone and Bobby Jones.

-- Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.

-- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Earvin Johnson and James Worthy.

-- Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.

All of those players, except for Bobby Jones and Rodman, were named among the “NBA’s 50 Greatest Players” back in 1996 when the NBA unveiled its 50th anniversary all-time team and each of those unions won at least one NBA championship.

To date, of course -- and this is important to those who insist that greatness can only be validated by a crown (or more) . . . and I’m not one of them (hello, Ted Williams and Dan Fouts and Charles Barkley, etc.) -- Wade is the only one of the new Big 3 to have so far won a title.

Be advised that I am not chastising Wade for his bravado. Indeed, he may end up being right. But for now my advice is for him to pipe down and see how this all works out. Greatness is in the doing, not in the saying.

(Bud Poliquin’s freshly-written on-line commentaries, his columns and his “To The Point” observations appear virtually every day on syracuse.com. Additionally, his work can be regularly found on the pages of The Post-Standard newspaper. Finally, he can be heard, Mondays-through-Fridays (10 a.m.-12 noon) on the “Bud & the Manchild” sports-talk radio show on The Score 1260 AM. E-mail: bpoliquin@syracuse.com.)